Torta di Nada

Torta di Nada! Don't you feel different only by reading the title? I did. Every time I glance over it, the soft, optimistic feelings come from within.It sounds like it has a story to tell. And it kind of does.

 I baked this beautifully light and moist cake topped with fresh fruit, curtsy of Nada, a girl who made it (with local fragola grapes though) for Jamie Oliver in Tuscany, after which he featured the recipe in  Jamie's Italy. So, don't even try to tell me that I made an ordinary, everyday sour cherry cake or some Starbucks style blueberry lemon cake! Because, this cake is very special, but  not the same way my mum's sour cherry cake is. That one bares the family soul! This, shows you that the true mastery of baking lies in the details, in the perfect balance of ingredients and small touches. Nada, my family salutes you!

Torta di Nada

4 eggs at room temperature

250 g sugar

180 g unsalted butter, melted

115 ml olive oil

155 ml room temperature milk

1 tsp vanilla extract

400 g plain flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

zest of 2 lemons

zest of 2 oranges

600 g fresh blueberries or stoned, pat dried cherries 

(or if you can find them muscat or fragola grapes)

Preheat the oven to 175 C/350F/ gas 4 and grease a 25 cm cake tin. Beat the eggs and sugar until thick and pale, then add the butter, olive oil, milk and vanilla. Mix well, sift in the flour, baking powder and salt, then add the lemon and orange zest. Set aside for 10 minutes. Stir about a quarter of the fruit into the batter, then transfer to a prepared tin. Bake for about 15 minutes, take it out from the oven and scatter the remaining fruit over the top. Gently push them down into the cake, return it to the oven for about 35 minutes or until the top is golden brown and cake feels firm,

Covered, it keeps well for few days.

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Fruit, Mascarpone and Chocolate Brioche

I thought that it would feel really odd being away from blogging for such a long time, but strangely enough, it wasn't. It was almost as the life arranged a break for me exactly at the time I needed it, to prevent me from burning out and loosing my zest for baking. It simply felt right to step back a little bit, which was a big relief that also brought me the realisation that I can really take it easy this summer and enjoy posting when I can and more importantly when I feel like it.

Like today, with this recipe that fits the idea of I would like to share this perfectly - it comes from the brilliant Willie'e Chocolate Bible.

Fruit, Mascarpone and Chocolate Brioche

Brioche:

250 g strong white flour

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1 tbsp milk powder

1 tsp easy blend yeast

2 large eggs

100 g softened unsalted butter

Filling:

380 g mascarpone cheese

14 figs - if using, if not some fresh or fruit from jar

I used gooseberry compote and fresh figs for the first one, small jars of cherry and gooseberry compote  for the second ( fresh physalis were added before serving)

80 g good quality dark chocolate, chopped into small pieces

80 g muscovado sugar

Equipment - 26 cm round cake tin

Combine all the dry ingredients, including yeast if using easy blend, if not dissolve it in a bit of warm milk first, then add the beaten eggs and butter. Mix until you get a soft, but not sticky dough. Knead for about 5 minutes until smooth. Place the dough in a bowl, cover and let rise for at least 4 hours, or until doubled in size.

Knead the risen dough, then press onto the base and at least 3 cm up the sides of the tin. Spread the mascarpone, then arrange the fruit ( pat it dry when you are wash it, or using from the jar) on the top and sprinkle with sugar and chocolate pieces.

If you are using figs, cut a cross shape in the top of each one.

Leave in a warm place to rise for 1 1/2 hours, preheat the oven to 180C and bake for about half an hour. Tap on the base to test if cooked - it should sound hollow.

Serve it warm or cold.

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Digestive Biscuits

I will be out and about a lot this summer, and the first leg of my little adventure starts tomorrow. That means that I'll be away from the kitchen most of the time and that I will not be able to post regularly, not the usual stuff in any case. But who knows, maybe the journey will bring new, fresh ideas and I'll be back before I planned :). 

I've got a few posts kind of lined up, but I prepared them in advance before and then decided not to let them leave the draft box for one reason or another. We'll see what happens this time around :). 

Before I take off I would like to share with you this digestive cookies that we have been enjoying lately.

The recipe comes from  the Guardian's  How to cook the perfect...  series by Felicity Cloake - check it out, I learned a thing or two  over time.

Felicity Cloake's perfect digestives

170g wholemeal flour
170g oatmeal
150g cold butter, diced or grated
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
60g dark muscovado sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 tbsp milk
150g chocolate (optional)

Sift together the flour and oatmeal in a food processor or large mixing bowl, then rub in the butter until it looks a bit like breadcrumbs.

Stir in the bicarbonate soda, sugar and salt and add just enough milk to bring it together into a coherent dough that will hold together well. Flatten into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 170C (fan) Roll the dough out between two sheets of clingfilm, or on a very lightly floured work surface, until about 4 mm thick, then cut out your biscuits. Arrange, spaced out on the trays, and decorate as you wish.

Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden (12 if you prefer them soft, 15 for a crisper finish), then cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a rack to crisp up.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate and carefully dunk one side of each into the chocolate to coat, and set back on the rack to dry. Keep in an airtight container for a week or so.

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Cottage Cheese and Herbs Scones

I've always preferred savoury scones to plain ones and for a long time simple cheddar cheese scones were by far my favourite; but that is about to change I think, since this cottage cheese and herbs variation got full marks from all of us on Sunday morning. We had them with natural pouring yoghurt, olive paste tapenade and red radishes. I am thinking about chilli (or red radishes) enriched cream cheese next time, we will see.. 

Cottage Cheese and Herbs Scones

• 280 g flour, plus more for the work surface
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 120g cottage cheese
• 120ml cold milk
• 85 g very cold unsalted butter, cut into small chunks
• 2 to 3 tablespoons minced fresh herbs - I used  dill, chives and parsley

 Preheat the oven to 220C/425F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt (to taste) and baking soda in a large mixing bowl. Whisk together the cottage cheese and milk in a separate bowl.

Scatter the butter and herbs over the flour mixture and cut the butter into the dry ingredients. You’re aiming for a lumpy mix with pieces of every size and shape, from pea-size to flake.

Pour the cottage cheese-and-milk mixture over the dry ingredients; use a fork to gently stir everything around until you have a soft dough. Squeeze a piece and it will hold together, then gently fold and knead the dough , just enough to bring everything together into a ball.

Dust the top of the dough very lightly, and  pat the dough out with your hands or roll it with a pin until it is about 2 cm high. 

Use the 5 cm cutter and cut the biscuits as close to one another as possible, then transfer them to the baking sheet spacing them at least 2 cm apart. Gather together the scraps; lightly pat the dough out again, working it as little as possible, and cut additional biscuits.

Bake for 14 to 18 minutes, rotating the baking sheet from front to back halfway through, until the biscuits are tall, puffed and golden brown.  Serve them warm.

Recipe by Dorie Greenspan

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Crispy Pugliese Focaccia

#DaringBakers April 2015
Focaccia sud Barese

I already posted my two favourite focaccia recipes  Potato-Gruyere Focaccia and Oozing Mozzarella Focaccia. They are substantially different from each other in the way of making, tasting, also in appearance, well pretty much everything and I thought that those are as far as you can go in variation, one soft and spongy, the other thin and crispy. Then, for the month of April Rachael of Pizzarossa and Sawsan of Chef in Disguise took us on a trip to Italy and challenged us to try our hands at making focaccia from scratch .

Since I didn't want to repeat what I made already I started searching for inspiration by flipping through the Italian cook books (I like the old ones, they are always bursting with ideas) and found this - Focaccia sud Barese, crispy on the surface, with the texture of a crumpet inside.

  

This is a completely different way of making focaccia, with a very wet dough with a consistency of wet porridge. It is best when making by hands, even if you use the dough machine at the beginning to reach the desired consistency it would be a good idea to finish the process by hand flapping the dough high up against the sides of the bowl. 

Crispy Pugliese Focaccia

1 small potato, peeled, chopped and boiled

250 g bread flour ( I used wholemeal)

1/2 tsp salt

250 ml of water (where potato was boiled topped with warm tap water)

12 g fresh yeast

generous pinch of sugar

2 tbsp olive oil

Topping of your choice,e.g -  cherry tomato and oregano,  black olives and red onion...

24 cm round tin or equivalent

Boil the potato, let it cool, mash it and reserve the water. Top up with warm tap water to make 250 ml and dissolve the yeast and sugar in it. Mix the flour with salt, add the mashed potato and yeast water and mix to combine well. Using your hand start pulling the dough up one side of the bowl. Keep pulling to incorporate a lot of air. Stop every few minutes and look at the dough. When the bubbles show on the surface and pop, the dough is ready.

Oil the bottom of the round pan, pour the dough, then cover with the rest of the oil. Put it in a large plastic bag and leave to rise for 1 1/2 hours. Add the topping before placing it into a 200 C/400F preheated oven and bake for about 50 minutes, or until  is crispy and golden brown. 

From "The Italian Cookery Course" by Katie Caldesi

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Apple Vinegar Folds

This recipe is a text book example of how to create something rather exceptional using just a few basic ingredients. It's very rich as it contains a high percentage of butter, but also so very delicate in texture thanks to a couple of spoons of apple vinegar that help to tenderize the dough. Vinegar is often used to make a pie crust flaky, but in smaller amounts I would say. Here, you can actually very gently taste the apple vinegar acid(and that is why it's important to use apple vinegar) but in a way that only adds to the flavour and goes particularly well with plum jam (although I tried and liked apricot as well).

For best results the dough should remain refrigerated overnight.

Apple Vinegar Folds

makes around 30 

300 g plain flour

250 g butter

2 tbsp apple vinegar

3-4 tbsp water

Small jar of the best quality plum jam you can get, or make (must not be runny)

All ingredients need to be very cold, mix them by fork or in a food-processor into a smooth dough, wrap it in a cling film, then refrigerate overnight.

Roll the dough thinly. Cut into 8 x 8 centimetre squares, place small spoonfuls (teaspoon size) into one of the corners of the squares and roll (see picture below). Bake at 180C (350F) for about 15-20 minutes or until a nice, pale golden brown.

Dust with icing sugar once cooled.

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We are two years old

To mark the occasion 

my friend Aisha

 made us her childhood favourite Spanish treat

Fruit & vanilla custard cake

Two years old..a toddler, surrounded by family and friends, still learning a lot, but very happy to do so! Although I probably improved my baking skills and the way I write and take photos over the years, my most valuable experience from my time in the blogosphere are the people I've had the pleasure to meet -from all corners of the world, very different and unique, but  all very special to me. One of them is Aisha, the author of a lively Spanish blog Cocina de Aisha, which I've become very fond of. 

A huge thank you to Aisha for being my special guest and thank you all for being loyal visitors to these pages, for your kind comments, critiques, support and idea exchanges. 

Fruit & vanilla custard cake

Ingredients:

Rectangular pan with removable base

Puff pastry

Vanilla custard

50 gr dark chocolate (70% cocoa)

Fruit mix

Vanilla custard:

2 cups milk

125 gr sugar

40 gr corn starch

4 egg yolks

1 teaspoon vanilla extract (or 1 vanilla bean)

Directions:

Start preparing the vanilla custard.

Put milk in a pan and heat it till boiling point.

In a bowl, mix sugar, corn starch and egg yolks. Beat them till they are well mixed.

Add boiled milk little by little to the eggs while mixing and add vanilla extract. Then put the mixture in the pan on low fire and heat it till it starts to thicken (mix with a wooden spoon all the time to avoid burning).

Cover the surface of the custard with plastic film paper and leave to cool completely.

Preheat oven 200º C
Grease your pan and cover it with the puff-pastry. Poke through all of the surface with a fork, place baking paper over the pastry and put some beans or a weight to avoid the puff-pastry from inflating too much. Bake for 30 minutes then take the weight and the paper off and bake another 15 minutes.

Leave it to cool completely.

Melt the chocolate and brush over all the puff-pastry surface using a silicon brush. Leave to cool and harden.

Then pour the vanilla custard over the surface and decorate with the fruit.

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